I was just curious how other GMs see races with permanent fly speeds for PCs?
I generally don't allow them at low levels, too afraid their flying ability gets them somewhere i wouldn't want them to be just yet, but at higher levels i don't really mind anymore. My party is level 9 right now and has a druid with a roc companion and a winged eidolon, basically the whole party can travel through the air with these, so i don't see why disallowing wyvarans, strix and syrinx would still have any point here.
Sometimes I consider allowing them just from level 1, with a little foresight in my campaign design they can't be that much of a problem after all, if i can deal with the ability to fly from class abilities at later pounts as well.
So what's your take?
Their flight really only comes in handy in outside areas, when they're inside tight tunnels or even mansions, they get far less out of it.
Remember most of them have a maneuverability of far less than Perfect, and at low levels they probably have not invested a feat into Hover either, so the DC 15 Fly check to actually hover in place isn't trivial yet. Neither is the DC 10 check when taking damage in some cases.
Also, most low level enemies don't employ flight either, so the best they can really hope to get out of it is to fly in the air and shoot at the ground with a bow or cast spells while out of range of melee attacks. But it won't protect them from bows or spells either, so have some ranged attacks among your NPCs.
Obviously it makes some high cliffs or walls easier to climb either, but rope+grappling hook takes care of most of those anyway, so also hardly a difference.
All in all, I don't think it's really overpowered. Gives that player some places where he can shine early on, without really breaking anything.
If you're really uncomfortable with it, you can say Strix have to start with the Wing-clipped alternate trait and have to pick up Stretch Wings (and Skill Focus) if they want the full fly speed.
I've had some homebrew races with flight before, and honestly it doesn't imbalance anything. A lot of action takes place in dungeons or indoors where flight really can't come into play, and like Quatar mentioned above, unless the PC invests in Hover, flying isn't always easy to mix with combat actions.
Plus, when one character can fly and the rest can't...that single flier isn't real keen on going off on their own to scout or investigate. Too easy to get ambushed or attacked and not have any backup.
With the assumption in my campaign that such flying beings are a little more common than otherwise, it also means that combat tactics reflect that, and most enemies are smart enough to carry ranged weapons, and if they expect to face off against a flier, you can bet they've got some weighted nets and know how to use cover to avoid ranged attacks or spells from that flier.
I was just curious how other GMs see races with permanent fly speeds for PCs?
I generally don't allow them at low levels, too afraid their flying ability gets them somewhere i wouldn't want them to be just yet, but at higher levels i don't really mind anymore. My party is level 9 right now and has a druid with a roc companion and a winged eidolon, basically the whole party can travel through the air with these, so i don't see why disallowing wyvarans, strix and syrinx would still have any point here.
Sometimes I consider allowing them just from level 1, with a little foresight in my campaign design they can't be that much of a problem after all, if i can deal with the ability to fly from class abilities at later pounts as well.
So what's your take?
In general being land-bound is not a good way to determine where PCs can and cannot go. If nothing else a 3rd level party can make a hot-air balloon airship using a basket, a balloon tarp, and a resetting burning hands trap (which you can craft for around 500 gp), so if your campaign relies on them being land bound to avoid going over a mountain for example it's pretty easy to monkey-wrench that without natural flight (now wyverns atop the mountain would be a different kind of obstacle, but invisibility...).
In combat, flight means you're basically auto-victory against landbound melee enemies. In short, the flying character(s) will do well against things like bears, wolves, and so forth. Against humanoids they lose a lot of their charm (virtually all humanoids can carry ranged weapons and flying characters tend to have no cover or concealment due to flying around in the open), and they often have less advantage against spellcasters who have ranged opportunities. Flight is also something that becomes very underwhelming indoors or in narrow places (not suggesting you make your campaign heavy on such places to compensate, just noting that there are some places flight shines and some places it doesn't).
The auto-victory thing isn't limited to flight either though. A 3rd level wizard with invisibility + summon swarm is an impossible encounter for most brute NPCs (animals, ogres, etc) to deal with (the wizard can simply keep walking around slowly and invisible while the swarm devours the enemy who cannot hit them).
Flight isn't really OP, it's just different. :P
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While I agree that flight isn't game breaking it most certainly is powerful and useful in general and, in the right circumstances, can be so powerful as to be nearly game breaking.
That is NOT theorycraft. To give examples from all over the power spectrum :
Yesterday I played the Level 1 Masters of the Fallen Fortress module. The fact that my Tengu character had glide (not even flight) almost certainly saved his and another characters life.
In our Age of Worms campaign my communal Air Walk spell has been insanely useful from levels 8+ (we're currently at L13). It hasn't totally destroyed any encounters but it regularly lets us win with far less difficulty than would otherwise have been the case.
Flight has been of major significance in literally dozens of PFS scenarios. Sometimes it lets the group more or less casually take down a flying opponent, sometimes it lets characters scout very effectively, sometimes it just gives more tactical options in a fight, sometimes it just trivially circumvents terrain problems.
Is there a difference in the game between flying and gliding/falling with style?
Just remember that flies, really have no cover to speak of.
Every one, and Every thing, that can look up will see the flyer.
So every Orc, Kobolt, gnoll, human male child, etc, and so forth, that has a sling, bow, or range magic spell... will be taking pot shoots at the fliers. Sometimes for a reason, sometime for fun, sometime just out of boredom, sometime for the hunt.
And many times, these shooter, will be shooting from cover.
In general being land-bound is not a good way to determine where PCs can and cannot go. If nothing else a 3rd level party can make a hot-air balloon airship using a basket, a balloon tarp, and a resetting burning hands trap (which you can craft for around 500 gp), so if your campaign relies on them being land bound to avoid going over a mountain for example it's pretty easy to monkey-wrench that without natural flight (now wyverns atop the mountain would be a different kind of obstacle, but invisibility...).Without the right skill set and materials, the only things your PC's can make easily with what you quote are either a forest fire or several broken necks.
Man flown Hot Air Balloons existed alongside plate armor in the 1700s. Hot air balloons that were unmanned have been recorded in use since around 200 AD. Some of the biggest challenges of a hot air balloon to be piloted and maintained are easily remedied with simple low level spells.
Most early balloons merely drift with the wind, with more complex systems being required if you want a balloon that can be steered. In D&D this is trivial to overcome because of spells like gust of wind which can be crafted as a resetting onboard trap system that directs a gust of wind in a particular direction against the balloon when a trigger - such as a button, lever, or knob - is activated.
Wear and tear on the balloon's fabric which causes loss of function over time can be remedied with the simple application of mending, which allows you to avoid things like having to replace the tarp frequently.
An airship created in D&D would be safer than those in reality. For one, you can use a clean energy source (magic) to provide the heat. You can generate a lot of heat very easily without a significant amount of space, nor a need for fuel. You can even install safety systems that will extinguish fires should an accident occur (a simple create water downpour targeted on an unintended flame would be enough).
Worst case scenario, feather fall makes a pretty good escape option.
Most likely some preliminary tests would be done before a full blown voyage. The first air balloon test with humans flew the balloon while it was tethered to the ground so it couldn't go anywhere but could fly up as much as about 80 feet if I recall. A few weeks later after testing runs the air balloon was successfully used untethered for a short flight. By 1794 (about 11 years after the the first private test of them, manned balloons were used for military purposes which included what amounted to a floating watchpost).
I would handle such race requested by changing their fly ablity to something similar to the fly hex (so featherfall at the start, then levitate, then fly). Explanation: flight musculatur/skill will improve after they reach adulthood. :)